Instagram, probably the world’s popular photo-sharing app, is now adding a video functionality similar to Twitter’s Vine. If you’re not yet familiar with Vine, a mobile video-sharing app, that’s okay as it’s newest competitor is giving you a ‘cooler’ way to take videos.
Instagram’s video functionality is now available on both iOS and Android systems. Aicoosoft enables users to record a 15-second video and apply any of the 13 filters available. This new feature will also be made available soon on Instagram’s web version. And for some Android users, the roll may not have reached your version today. Per the app’s latest update, video capturing feature is available on Jellybean 4.1 and above but all versions should be able to play videos on Instagram.
While this is not something new in the social network space, those who are having fun in applying retro looks on their photos using the app will more likely enjoy similar experience when shooting a video.
Social network giant, Facebook, will now allow users to post a photo as a form of comment says The Verge on its recent post.
After rolling out the hashtag feature, Facebook is set to deploy the additional comment feature today globally though no official statement yet has been confirmed from the social network.
This photo comment feature will be both available on the web and mobile versions of Facebook. Per reports, the mobile version will initially have a limited feature as users may not be able to post photos as comment but will be able to see those that were posted using the web version.
Another system limitation is that animated GIFs (Graphic Interchange Format) are currently not yet supported.
According to reports leaked online, a camera icon will be added on the comment part of Facebook statuses where users can upload photos to continue the conversation.
While social media was probably invented to connect with friends online, an application called “Hell is Other People” is intended to do the opposite – to stay away from friends.
Dubbed as the anti-social app, “Hell is Other People” is just an experiment in anti-social media according to its developer Scott Garner. The web app uses location-based social network Foursquare to track your friends’s check-ins then provide you routes to avoid meeting them.
This works pretty well if your friends are on Foursquare as the service utilizes check-in data from this social network. This is the limitation of the app as other location-based social networks and the social media giants Twitter and Facebook are not yet supported and there are no reports of adding them to their system as well. Twitter has integrated a system that will include your location per tweet sent. Facebook also has a similar feature.
Nevertheless, the app is a good option if you want to avoid terrible people. If you want to be all alone, this anti-social app can give you that satisfaction. Currently, the app is available via its web version.
The social network giant Facebook is currently testing a new feature that will make our profiles more human. Emoticons were rolled out to selected profiles to test this new service.
Facebook’s emoticons will be listed next to the picture and location icons when you are posting a status. The list of emoticons available goes beyond the regular smileys that we all know. In addition to smileys, icons such as an ice cream or a pizza will also be made available. By the way, emoticons are arranged per category such as drinking, eating, watching and doing.
Choosing the category watching will yield to Facebook pages of movies, TV shows, etc. This works similar to the GetGlue app.
Testers commented that while the emoticons are added features for status update, it is not yet possible to add a comment yet once posted on your timeline. Facebook, though, did not mention if they are working on this system limitation.
UPDATE (as of 4/11/2013 5:23AM): The screenshot above is a sample from one of my Facebook friends who happened to be one of those selected few with this new feature. Looks like Facebook was able to work on the comment side for emoticon status updates.
What do you think of this new feature in Facebook? Tell us by leaving a comment below.
Social network Formspring will shutdown operations come March 31st, according to an official blog post on Friday, March 15th.
Formspring, the pioneer in Q&A social network format, can no longer “sustain resources” to keep the company running. This is how Ade Olonoh, founder and CEO of Formspring, explained why they’re closing the startup website. The closure is on March 31st but users can still export all their data until April 15th.
Launched in November 2009, Formspring grew to over 30 million registered users with 4 billion posts.
Prior to this official closure blog post, there have been rumors in the recent months that Formspring had been suffering financially. Reports said they had made internal cuts on their staffs. Its COO Ro Choy also resigned months before this announcement.
We all know how big social media is today. Almost everyone is hooked up with any of the top social networking sites across every regions in the world. However, it’s availability to everyone exposes privacy issues which could bring legal battles to any corporate and enterprise entities who may want to adapt similar communication tool as part of their system. Enterprise social network is still possible if you’ll utilize a secure platform such as that of Sharetronix.
Similar to the big names that we all know in social media, Sharetronix provides a secure way to allow your coworkers and employees, clients and even partners to collaborate ideas and continuously communicate using the power of social network.
The platform is also open source so you can easily download it or play with some of its codes to specifically fit on your current business setup.
With Sharetronix, you can capture the insights of your workforse easily as everything is on one social network platform that you have direct control.
Top companies such as Telus, Deloitte, GruppoCoin and SDS are just a few names utilizing Sharetronix.
Twitter introduced today, January 24, a new way to share and embed a video on users’s tweets. Through the startup Vine, videos can now be uploaded as tweets using the independent application. Users can now share and capture short looping videos and use the Vine app to tweet. These video clips are limited to six seconds. The Vine application, however, is currently available for free in iOS devices through Apple’s App Store. Twitter and Vine are working together to make the application available on other platforms as well.
As for Vine, the app won’t require users to have a Twitter account. Since this is an independent app from that of Twitter, new users may only need to sign up separately.
So, if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad, download Vine now for free!
After Facebook, social network giant Twitter is also planning to establish its own office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Reports said that the company will be tapping the ever growing online population of the South American country to have it monetized. In a recent Reuters interview, Guilherme Ribenboim, country manager for Brazil, said “We believe our new office in Brazil will allow us to get closer to the users and show the value of our platform.”
The attempt to monetize the Twitter community in Brazil is also a good move as the country has “mature Internet and advertisement markets” and the “audience is very big and active”.
Also, Brazil will be holding the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. These two big events can bring in potential business and advertising contracts.
Brazil is currently holding the second spot as Twitter’s biggest market in the world. It is also the world’s sixth largest economy.
Similar to Friendster and Multiply’s fate, MySpace is still in the game but have chosen to cater to a specific online niche – music. And now, the then king of social network has just redesigned its layout. The New MySpace layout just became public this week though there’s no formal announcement as to when specifically did it launch the new design. According to The Verge, it is interesting to know that the new design became publicly available just in time with the release of Justin Timberlake’s new single “Suit & Tie” featuring Jay-Z. Timberlake is known to be a MySpace co-owner. The album is now the default layout of the new MySpace home page.
Anyway, the new MySpace allows you to scroll the page horizontally. It also has a music deck at the bottom where you can control the music that you wanted to play. Another thing is, MySpace now allows you to sign in using Facebook, Twitter or your existing MySpace credentials.
This new MySpace layout was first released for beta testing in July, previewed in September and then became available for an invite-only subscription. Recently, the site is now available for public use.
New generation of online users may still be able to remember how Friendster became such a huge hit a couple of years ago. But after Facebook and Twitter came in to life, the then-popular social networking site resorted to changing its platform. Friendster turned to a gaming social site catering to online gamers audience. Recently, Friendster added a new feature which makes the site a social dating site as well. Friendster Finder is a new and enhanced feature of the site where users can search for compatible friends who may turn out to be a their future partners. Friendster also has My Crushes, My Admirers and My Matches features which users can use to arrange your friends according to your preferred list.
There’s also a premium feature called Friendster Finder VIP Pack for users who are eager to find their perfect match. Upon upgrading to this valued-added service (VAS) which you can obtain by gathering Friendster Coins, your Friendster profile will be placed on top of the search results. There’s also a Wall of Fame VAS that will feature your profile on the Friendster Finder VIPs banner. Another cool feature of a Friendster VAS is that you’ll have an access to reveal the profile of your admirer for you to easily know their identity.
With these new features, will you try Friendster again?
